U.S. Stocks May Give Back Ground In Early Trading

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions.

Traders may look to cash in on the recent rally after comments from a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson partly offset optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal.

Ministry of Commerce Spokesperson He Yadong told reporters there are currently “absolutely no negotiations on the economy and trade between China and the U.S,” according to a CNBC translation.

He added that “all sayings” regarding progress on bilateral talks should be dismissed and said the U.S. should cancel all “unilateral” tariffs on China if it really wants to resolve the problem.

A slump by shares of IBM Corp. (IBM) may also weigh on Wall Street, with the tech giant plunging by 6.6 percent in pre-market trading despite reporting better than expected first quarter earnings.

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) may also come under pressure after reporting mixed fiscal third quarter results and cutting its full-year guidance.

On the other hand, shares of Texas Instruments (TXN) are soaring by 9.4 percent in pre-market trading after the chipmaker reported better than expected first quarter results and provided upbeat guidance for the current quarter.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of earnings news from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Intel (INTC) after the close of today’s trading.

Following a substantial move to the upside early in the session, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday but held on to strong gains. The major averages all ended the day sharply higher, with the Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

The Nasdaq soared as much as 4.5 percent in early trading before pulling back but still closed up 407.63 points or 2.5 percent at 16,708.05. The S&P 500 also shot up 88.10 points or 1.7 percent to 5,375.86 and the Dow jumped 419.59 points or 1.1 percent at 39,606.57.

Stocks initially extended Tuesday’s rally after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“I have no intention of firing him,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday but reiterated he would like to see Powell and the Fed resume lowering interest rates.

Trump’s attacks on Powell, including calling him a “major loser” as recently as Monday, had led to anxiety on Wall Street about the Fed’s independence.

The president also suggested he’s willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, predicting the current 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports will “come down substantially.”

Adding to the positive sentiment, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there is an “opportunity for a big deal” between the U.S. and China.

“If they want to rebalance, let’s do it together,” Bessent said during an appearance at the Institute of International Trade and Finance in Washington, D.C. “This is an incredible opportunity.”

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about recent volatility in the markets triggered largely by Trump’s words.

“There seems to be something different in the air. Instead of the bluster, threats and hiked tariffs which have been the hallmark of Donald Trump’s administration over the past few months, a more conciliatory tone seems to be emanating from the White House,” said AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.

She added, “Of course, one post on Truth Social could set the rollercoaster back on another circuit, but even the US president must have felt a bit ruffled when he saw the perfect storm of falling equities, a battered dollar and rising US Treasury yields.

Nonetheless, shares of Tesla (TSLA) remained sharply, with the electric vehicle maker surging by 5.3 percent.

The spike by Tesla came after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter results but CEO Elon Musk said amount of time he spends with the Department of Government Efficiency will decline “significantly” beginning in May.

Despite the pullback by the broader markets computer hardware stocks held on to substantial gains, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index spiking by 4.0 percent.

Semiconductor, networking and software stocks also saw continued strength throughout the day, contributing to the surge by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Outside of the tech sector, considerable strength also remained visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Financial, retail and steel stocks also saw closed significantly higher, while gold stocks bucked the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are jumping $0.83 to $63.10 a barrel after tumbling $1.40 to $62.27 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after plummeting $125.30 to $3,294.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are surging $58.80 to $3,352.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 142.46 yen versus the 143.45 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1366 compared to yesterday’s $1.1316.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as trade war concerns resurfaced following mixed signals from the Trump administration regarding easing tariffs on Chinese imports.

U.S.-China trade deal optimism faded after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there were no plans for President Donald Trump to move first in lowering tariffs to ease tensions, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China.

The dollar turned lower after a brief recovery, helping gold prices bounce back in Asian trading. Oil prices also edged up after Wednesday’s 2 percent fall.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index ended marginally higher at 3,297.29 despite shares of cloud computing, big data and software companies suffering heavy losses.

China today launched its first batch of special sovereign bonds for 2025, aiming to cushion the economy from simmering trade tensions with the U.S.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent to 21,909.76, dropping for the first time in four days, dragged down by tech shares.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains, while the yen flipped after two days of losses as Bessent said that Washington has “no currency targets” in its talks with Japan on tariffs.

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.5 percent to 35,039.15 after reports suggested that a second round of talks in Washington is set for May 1. The broader Topix Index settled 0.3 percent higher at 2,592.56, led by technology and auto stocks.

Suzuki Motor rose about 1 percent and Toyota gained nearly 3 percent after reports emerged that Trump is considering exemptions for automakers from certain tariffs.

Advantest, the world’s biggest supplier of chip testing equipment, rallied 3.2 percent and Tokyo Electron surged 3.7 percent.

Seoul stocks ended slightly lower because of uncertainty about what Trump will do with his economic policies. The Kospi closed 0.1 percent lower at 2,522.33 ahead of tariff talks with the United States.

Australian markets rose notably to hit a four-week high, with banks and miners leading the surge. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.6 percent to finish at 7,968.20, while the broader all Ordinaries index closed up 0.6 percent at 8,175.10.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.5 percent to 12,017.84.

Europe

European stocks have moved modestly lower on Thursday as the situation on U.S. tariffs on China remains unclear and earnings proved to be a mixed bag.

The German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent.

Lender BNP Paribas has shown a significant move to the downside after reporting mixed quarterly results.

Delivery Hero SE has also plunged. The German food ordering and delivery firm confirmed its 2025 guidance after reporting a gross merchandise value in line with market expectations for the first quarter.

Finnish telecom Nokia has also plummeted as it reported first-quarter profit well below market expectation and flagged a short-term disruption from U.S. tariffs.

Food and beverage giant Nestle has also moved notably lower after it warned of heightened consumer uncertainty.

On the other hand, French automaker Renault has shown a strong move to the upside after reaffirming its full-year outlook.

Italian energy group Eni has also advanced as it reported a smaller than expected 11 percent drop in first quarter net profit.

Sportswear and apparel maker Adidas has also jumped after delivering better-than-expected sales and profit for the first quarter.

Consumer goods giant Unilever has also risen after beating first-quarter underlying sales growth estimates.

Chipmaker STMicroelectronics has also rallied as it reported first quarter earnings in line with expectations.

U.S. Economic News

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly higher in the week ended April 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 222,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 216,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 221,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 220,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 221,000

A separate report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in the month of March amid a spike by orders for transportation equipment.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders shot up by 9.2 percent in March after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.9 percent in February.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 2.0 percent compared to the 1.0 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding the sharp increase by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in March after rising by 0.7 percent in February. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales in the month of March.

Economists expect existing home sales to tumble by 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million in March after surging by 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.26 million in February.

The Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 5 pm ET, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before a University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering event.